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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26467492">Aimless and Mystified Eastern Light</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HunteroftheHunters/pseuds/HunteroftheHunters'>HunteroftheHunters</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Touhou Project</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(man i don't know what to put here i'm just some fool from ff dot net), F/F, Fights, Generally Canon Compliant, Humor, Other, Plot, diverges in some ways, warning for a somewhat dark opening chapter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:40:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,741</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26467492</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HunteroftheHunters/pseuds/HunteroftheHunters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Gensokyo is no stranger to weird happenings. But when Reimu and Marisa find a strange young woman sleeping outside of the Hakurei Shrine, the mystery behind her arrival might just tie back to a conflict as old as the land itself. </p><p>A plot-focused story centered around Reimu, Marisa, and an OC. [Ongoing!]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. STAGE 0</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>
  <em> <strong>~ STAGE 0: "In Media Res" ~</strong> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>[START]</strong> </em>
</p><hr/><p>It was a display like any other in the Land of Illusions.</p><p>Myriad colors shot outward in every direction, lighting up the night sky. They burst, popped, faded out like prismic fireworks. Sounds of fighting could be heard amidst the luminous cascades of bullets. Any resident of this place would recognize the sights and sounds in an instant:</p><p>A Spell Card battle. An even duel where either side had a chance at winning. A 'beautiful' and 'fair' fight where sheer strength was no deciding factor at all. Where actions taken had meaning, and consequently drew power from that meaning. Where the victor could not kill a human, and youkai could freely demonstrate their power.</p><p>That was how things were settled in this place. It was an unspoken, understood rule.</p><p>-So, it only made sense someone would someday break them.</p><p>"Agh-!"</p><p>A young woman cried out as a sound like breaking glass smashed through the fight, her silhouette turned into a blur that was flung across the ground. She skipped across the grass like a stone across water, barely coming to a stop at the edge of a nearby ravine. Her clothing, decidedly modern and foreign, was torn up in various spots. Even though she felt like she'd just been punched in the chest by an angry gorilla, she found enough strength to weakly rise to her feet.</p><p>Behind her, far below, she could hear the distant echo of rushing water. She tried to ignore it as she looked back ahead. There was no time for her to get distracted.</p><p>Approaching her was an older woman dressed in red robes, a similarly colored horn protruding from her forehead. The elder chuckled as she walked, taking a relaxed sip from a sake dish in one hand; so cavalier, yet the air carried a deep sense of dread. What she held in her other hand only strengthened that feeling: a blade, its steel gleaming faintly in the moonlight.</p><p>The elder raised it upward, despite being a fair distance away. And then, as though she was ignorant of the weapon's limited range... she swung it.</p><p>Overcome with an overwhelming premonition, the girl quickly moved-</p><p>Before she even took a step, a searing sensation tore through her side.</p><p>Again, again, and again, all across her body from every angle. She could faintly make out the visage of the woman in front of her, making shallow strokes in the air with her sword. She couldn't explain the sensation, but it was like something was being 'warped' with each swing. As though the law that 'this strike will miss' was being rebelled against; as if such a common sense was completely unrelated to her movements.</p><p>Soon, the strikes stopped, and she nearly crumpled under the weight of her own body. It was a miracle she could even stay upright.</p><p>Staring down the sharp edge of that sword, the young woman saw more than her own reflection. She could see a clear image of her opponent's intent, and her fate if she didn't overcome them.</p><p>This was no longer a Spell Card battle. It couldn't even be called something as glamorous as 'a fight to the death'. That would've implied she'd go down with anything resembling a fight, at this rate. No, there was only one way to describe this: the willful murder of a human.</p><p>She cursed at the thought, and new strength filled her body as she rose her arms in defiance. All around her, a series of rapid 'BANG!'s rang out-repeated flashes of light like a firing squad had just opened fire. If one had the reaction speed, they would see something that looked like bullets of light screeching towards the older woman. Each one aimed for vital points of the body and would surely hit their mark-</p><p>A flash of steel; a simple flourish. With as much care as if she were swatting summertime gnats, the horned swordsman had simply slapped the barrage aside. A cold smile crossed her lips as she continued walking forward.</p><p>The girl didn't relent. Never one to be cowed, she kept shooting. Her eyes tracked the movement of each shot as it was knocked aside, never losing track of a single one. On one hand, she pressed her index and middle fingers together, extending them outward as she concentrated.</p><p>
  <em>One…</em>
</p><p>"What are you hoping you'll accomplish?" The elder tilted her head slightly, her cold smile turning to a chilling grin. "These movements of yours are meaningless."</p><p>She ignored her and kept shooting; she denied her as she had many things leading up to this moment.</p><p>(But for how much longer would that continue?)</p><p>Soon enough, the other was within range to cut her down; too close for her to continue firing without risk.</p><p>
  <em>Two-</em>
</p><p>Time slowed to a crawl. Her eyes tracked the blade's movements. Raised, it was poised to cut her down in a single motion. Her body tensed, as though she'd seen her own death, and she saw the look of fatal determination in her opponent's eyes.</p><p>And, as though she'd been waiting for it, she charged forward.</p><p>"-?!"</p><p>The swordsman's expression twisted into surprise as the girl rushed forward, faster than either of them had anticipated. The song of steel slicing air rang out and the blade passed right through the girl's body-</p><p>-But she was untouched.</p><p>The girl's observation was right. But she didn't have time to muse over her opponent's ability-she needed to follow through on her motion. She leapt, a palm set to meet her opponent's face. Right before she made contact, a card had materialized in the youth's other hand.</p><p>A Spell Card.</p><p>The bullets the swordsman had been batting about hadn't faded away. Rather, it was as though they had been controlled and repositioned. She would probably see out of the corner of her eye something forming around and underneath her: light, melting together as though creating a small pool.</p><p>
  <em>Three!</em>
</p><p>"Cannnonball 'Sake Bomb'!"</p><p>Roaring defiantly, the girl slammed her palm into her opponent's face. The force of the impact seemed to surprise the other, as she lost her footing and her grip on the sake dish in her hand. Gripping her by the head as she went, the girl drove her into the radiant pool-</p><p>The next instant, the entire area was bathed in light. A tower of fire rising and falling, like someone had hurled a boulder into a lake. An exploding howl echoed out for a good mile, nearby trees quaking in its wake.</p><p>As the impact seemed to settle, the sound of something breaking filled the air once more.</p><p>"Ah… ah-"</p><p>Had this been a proper duel, such a move might have won her the day.</p><p>But, this wasn't something so frivolous or playful. The outcome had already been decided the moment one had challenged the other.</p><p>She almost didn't notice something had gone through her torso. Had it not been for that cold sensation running her through, she'd have missed it entirely. That, and the sensation of something wet running down her body. Her vision was too red to make out what it was.</p><p>Her body seemed to get the memo, and it filled with a sensation like burning needles. It hurt. Breathing hurt. Everything hurt. She felt the strength in her body leaving her as she stubbornly gripped the thing that was inside her chest and weakly tried to pull it loose.</p><p>"My, you're quite something."</p><p>The elder woman said something. She couldn't respond-any attempt made everything hurt even more.</p><p>"You keep denying the truth, and where has it gotten you?"</p><p>The swordsman steadily lifted up the sword in her hand, and the girl felt herself rising up off the ground. The burning sensation became searing, and she almost started screaming.</p><p>The only reason she hadn't was visible in the ferocious glare she was shooting her foe.</p><p>"Oh, that's quite a look. Yes, you've got some spirit." She grinned. "Don't think I don't sympathize with your plight, girl. I know what it's like to reject the nature of your very existence."</p><p>Her eyes seemed to be screaming in return: <em>Shut up already. </em>Even suspended in the air, she found strength to keep her grip on the blade in her torso. Something wet was covering her hands, now, too.</p><p>"..." The other frowned, as if genuinely disappointed by something. Then, a sigh. "You're not going to listen, are you? Yes, I suppose you are alike after all. Always denying me, even when I try to help you. Such a shame..." Her eyes shifted to the ravine nearby. Her grip on the sword's handle tightened, and her smile returned. "Well, so be it. It's not like I made plans for any other outcome. You have only yourself to blame for that, ◻◻◻◻◻."</p><p>It almost sounded like she was talking to someone else. The girl didn't understand any of it.</p><p>"Goodbye. Make sure you leave a spot in the afterlife for the shrine maiden, hm?"</p><p>She couldn't have reacted to it. She couldn't have done anything about it, either. All she heard was the singing voice of steel that cut her mind in half, before her consciousness went blank. Her vision was no longer tinted red, but dyed complete crimson.</p><p>Her silhouette, split down the middle, tumbled down the ravine without a sound.</p><p>She shouldn't have been able to think. Not anymore, in a state like this. And yet, as she crashed into the waters below, some semblance of her conscious mind remained. A brief vision of someone special to her, along with a single, conscious thought-</p><p>
  <em>I'm sorry, Reimu…</em>
</p><p>It was her last thought before the current washed her away.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. STAGE 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Cutting back to a few years prior, we arrive at a certain shrine being cleaned up by a certain shrine maiden...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>
  <em> <strong>~ STAGE 1: "An Irregular Outsider" ~</strong> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>[START]</strong> </em>
</p><hr/><p>
  <em>~~~</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A few years prior…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>~~~</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The land they lived in went by many names. 'Land of Fantasy', 'The Eastern Country', 'Eastern Wonderland'. But to those who lived in it, it only had one, simple name-</p><p>Gensokyo.</p><p>The history of its origin was somewhat ambiguous; only those who had lived in it since its creation properly understood all of the details. Mankind once feared and worshipped the unknown and the supernatural; from that fear, both gods and monsters were born and thrived. But as ages passed and mankind grew more cynical, their collective faith and fear began to die out. The beings born from their belief in the unknown found their existence being replaced by science and new understanding of the world. Without doubt, soon they too would fade away, forgotten by time.</p><p>Those in Japan refused that fate, and thus devised a plan to survive amidst mankind's shifting beliefs.</p><p>Making a bargain with those of humanity who also rejected the coming era, they sealed away a great region of land from the rest of the world. That land would serve as a shelter for the old world and its ways.</p><p>But, such a place would always exist in a fragile peace. They needed a mediator. A central authority that could stand above and between humans and youkai; an impartial guardian who would keep the balance of the land.</p><p>To put a complicated story simply, that was her job. Her sworn, solemn duty.</p><p>… … … Well.</p><p>"Fuwaaahh…"</p><p>It usually was, anyways. Today was a slow day for Reimu Hakurei.</p><p>"No worshippers. No donations. Nothing."</p><p>She yawned again, idly sweeping away autumn leaves with a broom. It wasn't like she'd slept poorly. Rather, the stillness of today was starting to make her lethargic.</p><p>Actually, the past year had been surprisingly uneventful.</p><p>A mere three seasons had passed since the Spell Card rules she had created were put to their first real test. And yet, every time it seemed like everything was going to settle down, some incident or another had started up. A troublesome scarlet devil who darkened the skies of Gensokyo with an unnatural mist. A spring-stealing ghost who sought to revive a cherry blossom tree. A wild, party-happy oni who caused a festive ruckus. The Lunarians of Eientei making trouble with the moon.</p><p>Remembering it all gave her a headache. Not unlike when that yama came to clean up her subordinate's mess, and decided to give Reimu a lecture while she was there.</p><p>"Ugh." Perhaps the quiet was a merciful gift from the gods. A small repayment for her hard work. Normally, she would have taken such a blessing with little complaint, but...</p><p>It was usually when things got quiet that something really troublesome was about to start up again. It happened again and again without fail. Reimu only wondered when this year's incident would start up, and what it would center around.</p><p>She had a feeling it would be soon, and her intuition was never wrong.</p><p>-It took about sixty seconds.</p><p>"Zz… Zzz…"</p><p>Right in the middle of the path to the shrine, someone was lying on the stone walkway. Judging from their snoring, they were taking a nap. They seemed so fully immersed in their sleep, Reimu would have normally assumed they'd been there for hours. Would have, except she was fairly certain she'd just swept that area not even a few minutes ago. And now they were getting their drool all over that very spot!</p><p>"Hey. Hey!"</p><p>Reimu approached them, hoping she could rouse them from their slumber with a few irritated calls. Unsurprisingly, they didn't wake. <em>Annoying…</em> She contemplated hitting them with the broom in her hands for just a moment.</p><p>Then she saw the individual up-close.</p><p>A girl. About her age, actually. That wasn't really the strange part; what actually caught the shrine maiden's attention was her attire. It wasn't of a style that would be found in Gensokyo. It looked decidedly foreign, as though it'd come from a time and place quite distant. Almost as if-</p><p>"An outsider…? What are you doing here, exactly?"</p><p>She ended up muttering it aloud, like she was going to get an answer from this slumbering stranger. No such luck. On closer observation, Reimu had the impression she wasn't quite a youkai, so it was likely that she was human. Unless, in her boredom, she'd accidentally summoned a god that happened to dress and look like an outsider. That probably wasn't the case, though. Probably.</p><p>She nudged her a few times (even resorting to a soft kick), trying to wake her up. The girl muttered something in her sleep, but nothing else.</p><p>"Well, if you aren't going to wake up…"</p><p>With about as much ceremony as if she were hefting a sack over her shoulder, Reimu pulled the girl up from the ground and started a march to the Great Hakurei Barrier. <em>"(Heavy…)" </em>It was a bit tempting to just wake her up with a start, but that would have probably caused its own share of problems. This was a lot less troublesome.</p><p>Standing before the barrier, an ordinary person wouldn't notice anything different. A landscape that extended out into the horizon, and would keep going and going and going for anyone who decided to walk through it. That was what most inhabitants of Gensokyo would see. Naturally, Reimu saw more. She never really cared to understand every single minute detail, but Reimu knew that the 'barrier' was more than a simple boundary surrounding Gensokyo. It was something far more complex, formed long before she was a distant twinkle in her predecessors' eyes.</p><p>Even still, she didn't really need to know all of those details to do this task.</p><p>"In the name of the Hakurei God, I command thee-"</p><p>The words sounded grandiose, and really weren't her style, but ceremony was ceremony. The Great Hakurei Barrier divided the world of 'fantasy' and the world of 'reality'; common sense and nonsense. It wasn't anything she could handle halfheartedly, regardless of herself.</p><p>Any observer would see something that looked like a distortion in space, but that would have been a gross simplification. A boundary of 'common sense' wasn't something anyone could plainly cross; it operated on principles and meanings that went far beyond inhabited space. Opening a path through it could be compared to tearing open a rift between worlds-worlds which followed completely different sets of rules. To do this task and more without causing any serious destabilization was just another of her various, tiresome duties.</p><p>Regardless. Despite the numerous complexities that would leave an ordinary person's head spinning, Reimu had done it in about the same time as it took to turn a doorknob. And much as one would treat a stray animal that had somehow wandered into their home, Reimu quietly and unceremoniously flung the outsider back outside, taking care to gently shut the door behind her.</p><p>"There. That's taken care of."</p><p>Taking a moment to ascertain that the barrier was properly closed, Reimu went about her normal day.</p><hr/><p>"Zzzz… zzz…"</p><p>
  <em>What.</em>
</p><p>It'd only been a single day. Reimu was sure she'd sent her back home. At worst the girl would've woken up, confused as to why she'd found herself next to an old, abandoned shrine. But she would have probably just returned home, in that case.</p><p>"Don't tell me…"</p><p>Reimu squinted at the outsider's sleeping form. Was she squatting in the shrine on the other side? A forgotten human occupying an equally forgotten building on the outside world, in such close proximity to the Great Hakurei Barrier-it would've been a miracle if she wasn't spirited away. To be honest, the living conditions of a stranger normally weren't any concern to her, but if they forced work on her like this, she was bound to get annoyed.</p><p>"Hm."</p><p>Well, whatever. She ought to look into this, at least.</p><p>Reimu went to a kneeling position by the girl, focusing on her appearance first. Though her eyes were closed, Reimu had a feeling they were a similar shade of brown as her long hair. Her clothing seemed unremarkable, even for an outsider. A red shirt, similar to the casual attire many of them entered Gensokyo wearing. Covering it was a black jacket made of a rather light material. Black pants on her lower half, the fabric looking like that 'denim' stuff she'd occasionally see on outsiders. On the girl's feet, Reimu could see a pair of comfortable-looking black slip-ons.</p><p>… Nothing about her appearance particularly screamed 'forgotten human', or even that she was having any kind of troubles. At worst, her clothing seemed a bit worn down, like she'd kept this particular outfit around for a bit too long. Otherwise? She was a perfectly average-looking outsider. But, in this case, that just raised more questions.</p><p>Just as she was wondering where to go next…</p><p>"Yo, Reimu! What's with the dead body?"</p><p>
  <em>Ah, yes.</em>
</p><p>"It's not a dead body. Also, hi Marisa."</p><p>The ordinary witch, Marisa Kirisame, had come to play. Reimu had been so caught up in her investigation that she hadn't noticed the witch landing her broom right next to her. Not that it was a terribly surprising arrival; when it came to trouble, Marisa had a way of sniffing it out and nosing her way in no matter what.</p><p>It didn't take long for the shrine maiden to catch her friend up-to-speed.</p><p>"Huh." Marisa adjusted her hat, looking down at the girl with a face that said 'Yeah, that is pretty weird.'. She took her own turn to kneel down and poke the sleeping girl, who still didn't wake in the slightest. "Heavy sleeper, isn't she? And you're sure she's the same one you threw out yesterday?"</p><p>"I'm almost positive." Reimu cupped her chin. "She doesn't look like the regular 'spirited away' type, but…" She probably had a funny-looking irritated squint on her face. "I'm not exactly sure what she is."</p><p>"We could just try wakin' her up and just askin'." Reimu didn't like the way she saw Marisa brandishing her broom, or the grin on her face. "Want me to hit her with somethin'?"</p><p>"..." That expression on Marisa's face really was far too eager. But Reimu didn't have any better ideas, so it wasn't like she could convince her otherwise. She sighed reluctantly. "Go ahead, just be mindful you don't hurt her."</p><p>"Aw, c'mon~." Marisa's voice was like a child being scolded for a bad habit. She raised her broom overhead, gripping it tightly by the handle. "Don't worry, don't worry. I'll be as gentle as a soft breeze."</p><p>The resounding crack as her broom made contact with the outsider's head made Reimu think about setting up a lie jar for the ordinary witch. <em>Every time you lie, put 3 mon in my donations box. </em>She'd probably be rich within a week.</p><p>"Marisa, really?" Reimu covered her face with her palm. "Was that necessary?"</p><p>"Hey, you saw she wouldn't wake up for anythin' else. I just saved us a lotta time pokin' and proddin' her without any results."</p><p>That bit was somewhat true; Reimu could see the outsider stirring slightly, even if it did look like her soul left her body for a few seconds.</p><p>"Even still, couldn't you dial it back a bit? I'd rather not have the idea of you accidentally killing an outsider on my conscience."</p><p>Marisa made a sound like someone being told their friend was behind on a trend. "Whoa, you've got one of those still?"</p><p>"I'm not even going to try to unpack that sentence..."</p><p>The two continued fussing at one another for a bit, seeming to forget the waking outsider. The girl seemed to regain consciousness, her eyes hazily scanning around her before settling on the sight of a witch in black and white and a shrine maiden in red and white arguing over something trivial.</p><p>"..."</p><p>She stared blankly at them for a few moments, a look on her face like 'Am I still dreaming?'.</p><p>Reimu was in the middle of a sentence when she noticed the girl had flopped back over and gone back to sleep. Marisa, too, turned to see it once she noticed Reimu's sudden silence.</p><p>"..."</p><p>"..."</p><p>Silence.</p><p>"... Marisa, hit her again."</p><p>CRACK!</p><p>The girl shouted loudly, holding her head, before jumping to her feet far faster than Reimu had anticipated. She yelled some things at the two of them, fussing as one naturally would if they had been woken up by being assaulted.</p><p>Nothing irregular about that, except the girl wasn't speaking Japanese.</p><p>"...Er." Reimu sheepishly looked at the girl, a confused expression on her face. "I'm sorry, what was that?"</p><p>The girl's eyes widened in similar confusion. She said something again, and Reimu had no idea what it was. She might as well have been hearing someone make random noises for all she understood.</p><p>"Hm?" Marisa, on the other hand, seemed to pause. She poked the girl's face with the handle of her broom. "Oi, say somethin' again."</p><p>Reimu could practically see the vein flare up, and the girl grabbed the broom and pushed it back, barking indignantly at Marisa. The witch didn't seem worried, but instead closed her eyes and hummed to herself as though thinking.</p><p>Then, almost out of nowhere, Marisa started saying the same nonsense the girl was saying. The outsider seemed taken aback, before responding in kind. Before Reimu could even interject, the two had launched into some sort of conversation. Judging from the tones in their voices, it seemed like Marisa was questioning the girl, but…</p><p>
  <em>Why do I get the feeling I just got my investigation stolen from me?</em>
</p><p>After a few exchanges, Marisa nodded decisively, before approaching Reimu.</p><p>"Right…" She scratched the back of her head, as though something was actually troubling her for once. "I guess we can start with names. Her name's Luka. Luka East."</p><hr/><p>"... So, let me see if I understand this correctly."</p><p>Marisa had managed to gather a surprising amount of information from just that short exchange. Firstly, they confirmed she was, in-fact, an outsider. However, the details weren't quite the same as normal. The locations and places she described as home were somewhat similar, but also notably different from the regular outsiders. Not one mention of the Hakurei Shrine in the outsider world came up, either, which ruled out Reimu's earlier theory.</p><p>Unfortunately, all of it only left them with more questions.</p><p>"What in the world is 'Ah-me-ri-ka'?" Reimu said the word like it was some kind of foreign food. "And since when did you learn… what did you call it, 'ii-n-gu-ri-shu'?"</p><p>"English." Marisa clarified, using a sound that sounded a little strange to Reimu's ears. She beamed proudly. "I'm a witch of many talents. I can't exactly read books on western magic without bein' just a little multilingual, y'know?"</p><p>Reimu squinted. She had a feeling Marisa didn't sound nearly as smart in practice as she did in her head. At least she knew enough to translate.</p><p>"Hmm." Reimu hummed contemplatively. "So, she doesn't speak Japanese, but an entirely different language. She's also describing her home as someplace that is similar to other places we've heard of in the outside world, but not quite…"</p><p>"Think she's from another country or somethin'?" Marisa cut in. Reimu considered it for a moment.</p><p>"It's not impossible. But it's unlikely for someone to get spirited away if they're even a moderate distance from Gensokyo's 'location'." She used the word carefully, as Gensokyo didn't exactly inhabit a traditional type of space as any other region. "To speak an entirely different language, and to be from what could be an entirely different country… I'd have noticed if the Barrier was acting up like that."</p><p>"Well," Marisa's tone of voice suddenly got really excited. "she popped up in the same place twice, right? Both outside of your shrine. That's gotta be on-purpose. D'ya think…" Uh oh. Reimu could recognize that twinkle in her eyes. "... it could be an incident?!"</p><p>"Calm down." Reimu didn't dismiss the idea, but she wasn't about to get riled up if it turned out to be nothing. "It's not like one strange happening means an incident's about to happen. She could just be some random occurrence without any connection to anything."</p><p>"Oh, c'mon, Reimu!" Marisa didn't accept that, however. "You gotta know how weird this is, right? We've gotta at least do a bit of investigation'. 'Sides, it's not like you can just chuck her across the barrier again, since we know that's a bust."</p><p>Reimu's gaze finally turned to the outsider, who'd been sitting on the sidelines while they talked. She saw her leaning over the donations box in front of her shrine, peering inside it curiously. She wasn't sure what the girl was doing, but there was a hopeful moment where she reached into her pockets… only to find nothing in them. Ugh.</p><p>Well, considering the current series of events and her position, Reimu had to make a decision. She didn't really like it when she was forced into doing that, but work was work.</p><p>"Alright. We'll take a look into this, then. Just a bit."</p><p>"Alright!"</p><p>Marisa pumped her fist, jumping to her feet (and surprising the outsider with her sudden outburst). Reimu raised an eyebrow.</p><p>"I take it you have a plan of some kind?"</p><p>"Yup." Marisa adjusted her oversized hat, a confident shine in her eyes. "First order of business: get her to speak Japanese, 'cuz I'm seriously blanking on some of the stuff she's sayin'."</p><p>…</p><p>
  <em>It's going to be a long day, isn't it?</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm sure many of you recognize this setup, and I hope me opening it up from a different point of view implies enough that this isn't quite your standard "outsider-gapped-into-Gensokyo" story.</p><p>Anyways! For starters, I'd like to thank those of you who've read this far! It's nice to meet you all! As I'm sure one of the tags revealed, I'm a bit more familiar with fanfiction.net than AO3, so I hope you'll forgive me for not entirely knowing what I'm doing! ;v;</p><p>Anyways...</p><p>I treated these first few chapters as something of a sampler platter; that is, there's going to be different moods to this story. Stage 0 embodies many of the darker, more serious aspects of the story, and raises questions I hope you all keep stored away as you read. Stage 1, on the other hand, is much lighter and meant to be very Touhou-like. I feel like that mixture is generally how this story will be on the whole, and I hope that if you've come this far to read this, it means you're interested in that sort of thing!</p><p>As you can assume, this will be a rather plot-centric story, which naturally means this will be an ongoing, continually updated story. I can't promise a professional-level schedule, but I'm aiming to upload something roughly every week. I've written many things in advance, so I hope I can keep to that! But y'know, life is sometimes rough, so no guarantees. I'll be uploading to both here and FF.net, so you can always check there if there's an issue going on with my upload schedule here!</p><p>Anyways, I appreciate that you've taken the time to read this! Hope your days are well, and I'll see you all next chapter!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. STAGE 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>With the strange outsider in tow, Marisa enacts a plan to cross the language barrier.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>… So, uh. “Attempts at weekly/semi-weekly updates”, huh…?” </p><p>Aha… ha… </p><p>—Right, an explanation. If you don’t particularly care why I took so long to put this chapter out, or you’re a new reader (hi!) who wasn’t around while I made that promise, you can go ahead and skip down below and read the good stuff. I won’t judge. </p><p>… … ...</p><p>Alright, are they gone? Okay.</p><p>So this chapter got kind of difficult to put together, despite being such a simple premise. I’d like to go into the details right now, but it’d obviously spoil what’s up ahead. To put it simply, this chapter went through multiple rewrites from its original incarnation. It was originally two chapters, I wasn’t satisfied with it, yadda yadda, etcetera etcetera. There was also the issue that, because I wasn’t hitting my weekly/semi-weekly deadline, I was feeling frustrated. As a result, I started procrastinating and had difficulty pushing myself into making this chapter. Slap work on top of it, and you get the picture. </p><p>As a result, I think I’m going to remove the weekly/semi-weekly deadline, since I think it’s doing me more harm than good. I want to feel like I can stop and take my time on a chapter when I feel like it’s not accomplishing what I want it to. </p><p>Okay, getting into further details would spoil the chapter, so let’s not delay this any further! </p><p>I hope you all enjoy Stage 2! See you at the end of the chapter!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<hr/><p>
  <b> <em>~ STAGE 2: “Take A Look, It’s In A Book” ~ </em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>[START] </em> </b>
</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Flying was a pretty natural thing for Marisa Kirisame. The absurd height, the breeze rushing past her—compared to how things were when she first learned the art, everything about it just felt normal. She bet it was the same for most people who lived in Gensokyo. </p><p>That didn’t mean it was normal for everyone. Especially not for the outsider who was currently clinging to her waist. </p><p>“Don’t look down, don’t-don’t-don’t, d-don’t-look…”</p><p>They’d been flying for a little while now, Luka hitching a backseat ride on the witch’s broom. She clung to both the sweeping instrument and its pilot like a terrified cat, endlessly muttering stuff about ‘terminal velocity’ and ‘tomatoes’. It made flying kind of awkward for Marisa, especially since the broom wasn’t really designed to seat two people. She made it work, though. Er, about as well as balancing two girls on an old stick of bamboo could, anyways.</p><p>On the topic, actually…</p><p>“Why am <em> I </em> the one who has to lug her around?”</p><p>Marisa turned her attention to the third in their party, who happened to be idly floating a short distance ahead. </p><p>“Because you’re the one who came up with this plan.” Reimu responded, turning her body around to talk to her friend. Despite that, she never lost any speed or control of her flight; almost as if she were on auto-pilot. “Also, I don’t really feel like carrying her around, and you’ve got that broom of yours.”</p><p>Marisa puffed her cheeks as Luka shrieked at some minor turbulence. “This ain’t exactly ideal, y’know.” She thought for a moment. “Hey, don’t ‘cha got that old turtle hangin’ out back in the shrine? I bet he could carry her around.”</p><p>“I’m not waking up gramps for something like this. Besides, you’ve got things under control, right? Just make sure she doesn’t fall off that broom.”</p><p>Reimu cheerily waved her hand as if to say ‘it’s not my problem~’. </p><p>Marisa sighed. “Yeah, yeah…” The prices she paid for her aesthetic…</p><p>The plan that put her in this situation sounded pretty straightforward in her head. As a land that contained much of the fantasy that the Outside World had cast aside, Gensokyo was home to a wide assortment of weird yet capable people. To the far south of the Hakurei Shrine, there was a great manor owned by a certain vampire. Inside of that manor was a library filled to the brim with knowledge from every conceivable corner of the world, looked after by a pretty cranky mage. </p><p>Irritable as she was, though, that same mage was also pretty smart. She surrounded herself in books and tomes from all over, to the point where her own knowledge and all that was contained in the library were practically synonymous. And though she specialized in elemental magic, she had knowledge of magic from all over the world. For example, if there happened to exist a spell that could translate one language from another, or possibly even teach someone an entire language in a day, she would be the first person to know it and learn it.</p><p>Of course, Marisa had other reasons to suspect such a thing. The grand scarlet mansion was pretty obviously western, as were most of its inhabitants. And even though they arrived in Gensokyo suddenly, they had little issue communicating in the native language. A boring person would complain that something like that didn’t make any sense. A smart person would understand immediately that it was some form of magic. </p><p>(She also seriously doubted that the mistress of the house would put the time or effort into becoming fluent in another language, but that was another thing.)</p><p>She didn’t understand the specifics of it. Any kind of magic relating to linguistics had to be seriously difficult, and it was never a topic Marisa felt a need to dive into. And, well, here she was. She could only hope her hunch was correct. </p><p>As they passed over the mist-covered lake, Marisa could see the distant silhouette of the Scarlet Devil Mansion just a short while ahead of them. She momentarily snuck a glance down at the lake’s edge, her eyes tracking an out-of-place igloo surrounded by even more out-of-place snow, before eventually concluding that particular pest probably wasn’t going to make an appearance in this chapter.</p><p>Though, right as Marisa let out a sigh of relief over avoiding that idiot...</p><p>“Hey, stop right there!!”</p><p>A sudden voice cut through the silent flight, bringing both Marisa and Reimu to a stop. It wasn’t an annoying ice fairy, though. No, when they were this close to that mansion’s gates, there was really only one person it could be. Her green uniform and flowing red hair were pretty unmistakable, as was the slightly dopey expression on her face. </p><p>“Yo, Meiling, what’s--”</p><p>“Hooo…!!” The vampire’s gatekeeper took a really weird deep breath, striking what she probably thought was an intimidating martial arts stance in midair. It only made Marisa wonder how she could maintain a foothold while flying. “You!!!”</p><p>“...Er.” Marisa’s casual greeting deflated. “What, private airspace or somethin’?”</p><p>“Don’t you play the fool!” Meiling refined her stance, her intense glare focused wholly on Marisa. “I know exactly what you came here to do!!”</p><p>“Make use of the local community library?”</p><p>“Exac--No!!” </p><p>Those unfamiliar with either of them would have no idea why Marisa was being treated with such hostility. Those who were familiar would know exactly why. One might say she had something of a ‘reputation’; that her ‘use of the local library’ wasn’t because she was let in, to put it implicitly.</p><p>Somehow stomping her foot in midair, Meiling jabbed a finger at Marisa. The witch continued to not react to the display, instead sneaking a short glance behind the gatekeeper. </p><p>“You’ve been flying over me during my evening naps, and I got a thorough scolding from Lady Patchouli over letting you through these past few times!!” She continued to stab her finger towards Marisa, refusing to acknowledge anything else around her. “So! I dutifully stayed awake for the last week, preparing myself for your next break-in attempt!! And at last, you’ve arrived!” </p><p>Meiling’s stance shifted, moving from cautious defensive to readied offensive.</p><p>“Now, prepare--!!”</p><p>“Hi.”</p><p>Reimu floated idly behind Meiling, her rather blunt cut-in quite literally taking the wind out of the gatekeeper’s sails. </p><p>“--ah?” </p><p>Meiling froze mid-lunge. Marisa could see beads of sweat popping up on her face as she slowly craned her head to see the shrine maiden. </p><p>“W-Wait, what are you doing here?!” Still probably assuming they were there for troublesome reasons, the gatekeeper redirected her stance to meet Reimu. Until she remembered Marisa was still there, and struck an awkward fighting pose between them both. </p><p>It was funny enough that Marisa considered not clarifying things. But judging by her blank expression, Reimu was probably tired of it.</p><p>“Work. Can you let us through?” </p><p>“‘Work’...?” Marisa could tell from Meiling’s confused expression that she’d gotten the completely wrong impression from that word. “Um, we haven’t really caused any trouble, though…” </p><p>“Not really what I meant...”</p><p>Before Reimu could explain, Marisa heard a really pathetic whimper coming from behind her; as did Meiling, who promptly turned to Marisa with an even more confused expression before the witch leaned to the side and jutted her thumb at the actual culprit. The gatekeeper’s guard soon lowered, her confrontational attitude being replaced with something more quizzical.</p><p>“Um…” She repositioned herself to get a better look at Luka, who was still clinging to Marisa at this point. “Who is that?”</p><p>“An outsider.” Marisa could feel the girl’s arms gripping her waist tightly. Typically a fun romantic fantasy, but right now it was kinda starting to annoy her. <em> Plus, if Alice saw this... </em> “Say, can we land real quick? Before this girl here ends up passing out or somethin’.”</p><p>Meiling considered it for a moment, before nodding and escorting the two of them to the front gate. Once they landed, Luka dropped off from the broom and fell to the floor like she was worshipping it. </p><p>Since she was probably going to take a little while, Marisa decided to take the initiative and properly explain things.</p><p>“--So, yeah. That’s where we’re at. We were hopin’ Patchy could help out with that. You all didn’t speak Japanese before comin’ to Gensokyo, right?”</p><p>“...” By this point, Meiling had totally dropped her defensive stance, choosing instead to cup her chin in thought. “Well, I did, but… For the others, I do think I remember she made a comment about ‘fixing the language barrier’...”</p><p>“So she can help us out?”</p><p>Meiling let out a rather hesitant ‘mmm’. “‘Can’, yes, but ‘will’ is a bit different’...”</p><p>Reimu groaned. “Can’t you at least get us a meeting with her?”</p><p>“I don’t know…” Meiling’s gaze shifted to Marisa. <em> Hey… </em>“Lady Knowledge wouldn’t be very pleased if I willingly let that one in, given her history…”</p><p>“Hey, I--”</p><p>“If I make sure she doesn’t run off with anything, will you let us in?”</p><p>“Wha--?!”</p><p>“Hm.” Meiling locked eyes with Reimu for a few seconds, as though searching her soul for any hint of dishonesty. Then, after sneaking a shifty glance at Marisa, she nodded. “I suppose I can trust you, then.”</p><p>“Great, that makes this a lot easier.”</p><p>Marisa could only start up an offended ‘Look here—’ before the both of them started off through the front entrance. Neither stopped for her, or Luka for that matter.  </p><p>“Gimme a break…” </p><p>She sighed, lowering her shoulders, before gesturing for a now-calmed Luka to follow as she joined the other two. Being escorted in wasn’t her usual style, but it couldn’t really be helped. Even Marisa had to admit she wouldn’t be able to do one of her usual entrances while babysitting someone else. </p><p>Speaking of. </p><p>As the four of them walked through the garden in front of the manor, Marisa glanced over to see how the outsider was doing. Surprisingly, she seemed to have totally calmed down now that she was back on the ground. Well, mostly; Marisa could still tell she was a little shaken by the experience, but she didn’t seem to be deeply traumatized or anything. As she was now, the girl just glanced around, taking in the sights around her and pausing to think about them to herself.</p><p>… A lot of Luka’s reactions to stuff so far were kind of weird, actually. Marisa figured she’d have time to ask once they figured out the language barrier stuff. </p><p>Soon enough, they’d passed through the front doors and were inside the entrance hall. </p><p>“Please wait here.” Meiling bowed slightly. “I’ll inform the mistress of your arrival--”</p><p>“That won’t be necessary, Meiling.”</p><p>An authoritative, yet childlike voice suddenly seized the room’s attention. Her’s was a charismatic tone that couldn’t be mistaken for any other, with all but one present knowing the identity of the speaker. Turning, Marisa could see her clearly. A vampire in scarlet, one of the only two in Gensokyo; the (supposed) descendent of Vlad Tepes and the cause of the Scarlet Mist Incident--</p><p>Remilia Scarlet.</p><p>“Yo, Remi.” Marisa hardly blinked at her arrival.</p><p>“A-Ah--” Meiling, as expected, stuttered for a moment, clearly surprised that the mistress was already here. “Lady Scarlet, I didn’t expect--”</p><p>“Aren’t you children supposed to be sleeping at this hour?” Reimu interjected with all the tact of a brick.</p><p>Remilia laughed, respecting Reimu enough to not take offense to that. Marisa still didn’t quite understand what was between the two of them, especially since Reimu was the one to put a stop to that particular incident. It felt a bit like a manga, where two super strong characters got along better after one beat the other. Youkai were weird like that. </p><p>“Perhaps, but what kind of a host would I be if I didn’t greet my guests?” The vampire smiled smugly, and Reimu and Marisa shared a mutual expression of confusion (‘How did you know we were coming?’). Before either of them could get an answer to that, Remilia turned her attention to Meiling. “Meiling, would you care to tell me what brings our guests here on such short notice?”</p><p>“Ah. Y-Yes, you see…”</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“I see. Looking for a favor with Patchy regarding that light snack standing behind you both.” Remilia stroked her chin, a thoughtful and totally trustworthy smile on her face. “Well, I’m feeling magnanimous this evening, so I’ll allow it. I can’t promise she’ll offer you any actual assistance, though—especially when a certain someone is asking.”</p><p>Marisa waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah, I got it…”</p><p>Remilia smirked in amusement, and her eyes glanced in no particular direction. “Sakuya, would you kindly escort our guests to the library?”</p><p>It happened almost immediately, but Marisa had seen it coming as soon as that person’s name was called. Without even the sounds of her footsteps, a silver-haired woman in a blue maid’s uniform appeared before them. Literally, ‘appeared’—it would have looked like she’d simply popped into existence. How she’d done so was no secret to anyone present, especially not with that particular stopwatch in her hands.</p><p>It was a totally natural entrance for Sakuya Izayoi, the perfect and elegant maid who could manipulate time itself. </p><p>“--GH?!”</p><p>It was so natural that Marisa must’ve tuned out the first bit of Luka’s reaction to it. To a normal person from the outside world, someone randomly popping into existence was probably beyond supernatural. It probably would’ve scared Marisa too, if she wasn’t already used to it. For Sakuya’s part, she merely shot the girl a strange look, before seeming to let the matter go. </p><p>“Right this way, then.”</p><p>Walking through the manor like this was definitely a different experience than normal. Well, slightly—she still kinda marched in like she lived here, but now she was being escorted instead of escorting herself. It felt weird. Also kinda boring. Maybe she’d blow something up later to make herself feel better.</p><p>Glancing to the side as they walked, Marisa caught a glimpse of some fairy maids doing ‘work’. Quotation marked because it amounted to a single one shuffling around aimlessly with a broom while the rest chased each other around. It took only a single piercing glare from Sakuya to scatter most of them, leaving only the remaining panicked one to continue sweeping a completely clean spot.</p><p>“Hired help still ain’t doin’ much, huh?” Marisa commented. </p><p>Sakuya sighed. “They’re mostly useless. No matter how many times I scold them, they’re back to messing around in no time…”</p><p>Marisa figured that was pretty fitting when their master was a literal child. “Even if ya scared ‘em with death, it’s not like it’d keep ‘em for long.”</p><p>Reimu interjected. “‘Idiots can’t catch colds’, and whatnot.”</p><p>Sakuya nodded. “The pain does stick with them, however, so it can be somewhat effective as a motivator.”</p><p>Luka, blissfully unaware of the morbid conversation going on, assumed they were talking about the weather and minded her business.</p><p>“Oh, yeah.” The morbid talk reminded Marisa of something. “Speakin’ of, where’s the other little lady of the house?”</p><p>“Ah, Flandre?” Sakuya glanced back at her, a small smile on her face. “She’s still asleep, I’m afraid. I doubt she’ll be awake for the next few hours.”</p><p>“Huh. Guess it’s still only just the afternoon, after all.”</p><p>Well, that solved that problem. Marisa didn’t want to imagine the kid thinking the human they’d brought in was a snack for her, or something...</p><p>After what seemed like a shorter walk than Marisa remembered, they arrived at a familiar pair of tall, ornate doors. If she didn’t recognize them, then there would’ve probably been something wrong with her.</p><p>Behind those doors, one would see a truly beautiful sight; downright breathtaking, actually, though anyone who didn’t consider themselves a mage probably wouldn’t understand it. One would step out from the doors onto a balcony, staring out into a yawning expanse that reached out far below and above, defying all sense of space. It was a complete world of books, all of varying types, genres, and purposes. From dictionaries of every known and unknown language to magic tomes covering every possible field of study; advanced literature and manga, autobiographies and biographies, sentient grimoires and children’s books. It was a collection beyond numbering, yet ever so tidily arranged. If a book existed--no, if any kind of knowledge existed, it could probably be found here. She’d forgive anyone for thinking the place was the private collection of some deity of literature. </p><p>Alas, it was just Patchouli.</p><p>The doors creaked open as they stepped inside, no one there to greet them. Marisa doubted the local shut-in even heard them enter, her nose probably firmly jammed in-between a set of pages. Time for her to change that. </p><p>Before anyone else would say anything, Marisa zoomed over to the edge of the balcony, taking a deep breath as she went. Raising her head to the far-distant ceiling, she cupped her hands around her mouth—  </p><p>“OIIIIIIIIII, PATCHYYYYYYYY!!!”</p><p>Her voice echoed throughout the grand library, bouncing around the distant shelves. It was unlikely her voice reached every corner of the room, but there was no doubt that she was heard. It didn’t matter how loud she was, just that it was her unmistakable voice. Even if the curator of this massive collection were busy or asleep or somehow deafened, she would recognize that voice. It flattered her, really. </p><p>As though it were echoing back, Marisa could make out the faintest sound of a groan, which brought a small grin to her face. Soon enough, a figure rose from the maze of shelves below. She could feel a soft breeze picking up, the immediate source obvious to her: elementary wind magic used to carry oneself around. A very useful spell for lazy librarians. </p><p>“You again…”</p><p>Cloaked in the same billowing purple pajamas as always, Patchouli Knowledge scowled down at Marisa. Her eyes regarded her the same way as someone would a neighborhood pest, which Marisa had to say, was really hurtful. What had she done to make her so upset? She just didn’t know. </p><p>(She absolutely knew.)</p><p>Patchouli’s scowl relented, however, when she noticed the company with Marisa. Not only had the Hakurei shrine maiden accompanied her, but there was also an unknown stranger in the mix as well. The librarian’s eyes lingered on Reimu for a moment.</p><p>“—You don’t normally come here unless you want something.” Patchouli bluntly stated.</p><p>“That’s right.” Reimu didn’t miss a beat, as usual. “Marisa, explain.” </p><p>
  <em> … Why d’ya gotta keep dumpin’ the hard parts on me? </em>
</p><p>Getting a childish pout out of her system, Marisa sighed and took the center stage. </p><p>“Alright, where to start…”</p>
<hr/><p>“I refuse.”</p><p>
  <em> Should’ve seen that one comin’... </em>
</p><p>Marisa, Reimu, and Patchouli sat around a circular wooden table on the balcony overlooking the library (Luka was also at the table, but she was hardly involved in the conversation). Patchouli sat upright firmly, her hands resting on a leather-bound tome in front of her.</p><p>Marisa had taken her hat off for now, leaving it on the table as they spoke. “Just like that?” She scratched her head. “I would’ve figured since Reimu bothered to show up for this, you’d give it a little more thought.” Reimu nodded thoughtfully. Marisa wasn’t sure if she ignored the implication there or just didn’t catch it.</p><p>Patchouli didn’t waver at all. “It’s true, the shrine maiden’s involvement does influence my considerations a bit. But since it’s also <em> you </em>,” she pointed harshly at Marisa. “coming to me for help, that also changes things a bit. These considerations both balance out, resulting in my going by my default answer. Which is no.”</p><p>Marisa’s shoulders slumped. “Cold. Also weirdly mathematical.”</p><p>“Can’t we make some kind of exception here?” Reimu’s patience looked like it was being tested. “I’d seriously prefer to not make this investigation any more difficult than it needs to be.” </p><p>“Hm.”</p><p>Patchouli was either considering something, or she just wanted to get the both of them to leave. She tapped a finger on her book, staring at the leather cover thoughtfully. Then her expression shifted, as though something had come to mind. “I could consider an arrangement, but that depends on the troublesome member of your party.”</p><p>“Can we just say my name? I’m right here.”</p><p>Reimu paused in consideration. “What are your terms?”</p><p>“Marisa will return the books she’s stolen from me.”</p><p>There was a silence between the three. Luka glanced over, feeling an odd shift in the room’s temperature. </p><p>“—That was a really good joke, but no seriously, what’re your terms?”</p><p>The room got colder again. Luka’s eyes got wide, and she wisely decided to scoot away from Patchouli. </p><p>“I’m not repeating myself.” The animosity radiating off of the librarian could’ve frozen Marisa solid. </p><p>A few more seconds of silence. </p><p>“—” Marisa snatched her hat onto her head and hopped to her feet, gesturing for Reimu to follow her. “Yo, team huddle for a sec.”</p><p>Reimu quirked an eyebrow at the remark, but followed after her. The two of them huddled a short distance from the table, with both Luka and Patchouli giving them an odd look.</p><p>“You seriously can’t just return those books?” Reimu whispered, with all the incredulity she could muster. “You stole them, after all.”</p><p>“BORROWED!” Marisa whisper-yelled. “Seriously, what part of ‘borrow-til-I-die’ does no one get?! I’ve only got like sixty years, tops!!”</p><p>“Focus.” </p><p>“Ugh, right.” She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Look, it’s a firm ‘no-deal’ on that. I worked too hard to get ahold of those things, and I’m nowhere near done with ‘em yet! I ain’t gonna give ‘em back just so they can collect dust on a shelf again!”</p><p>Reimu squinted blankly at her. “Well, if we can’t figure something out, you’re going to be stuck teaching her Japanese.” </p><p>“Urgh...”</p><p>“Why not ask Alice if she could help?” Reimu smirked slightly. “I’m sure she’d happily—”</p><p>“Damn you, don’t bring her into this! She’d never let me live it down…”</p><p>What a sticky situation… She hated diplomacy. Why couldn’t she just blast through all her problems without worrying about the details? </p><p>… Wait.</p><p>“Aha!” Marisa suddenly broke from the huddle with a triumphant shout. “Alright, Patchy! I’ll agree to your terms on one condition!” </p><p>The mage raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”</p><p>“You, me, Spell Card battle! If I win, then you help us and I don’t have to return a single one of those books of yours!”</p><p>Patchouli stared at her blankly, barely restraining herself from scowling again. “And if I win?”</p><p>“You get your books AND you don’t gotta help us at all!”</p><p>Reimu’s face went incredulous, with a look of ‘Aren’t you needlessly raising the stakes there?!’.</p><p>Patchouli seemed to catch onto that. “... Very well. I accept.”</p><p>Perfect. It sounded like bluster and false bravado, but there was a reason Marisa had upped the ante. Patchouli was nothing if not stubborn, and she wasn’t likely to take an offer for something like this if the reward wasn’t worth the effort. Marisa just had to take one, simple risk:</p><p>Don’t lose. </p><p>“Alright!!”</p><p>Immediately perching atop her broom, Marisa shot upwards. She glanced back to see Patchouli lazily following after her, her grimoire tucked under one arm. What kind of magic would she be using for this fight? It was fun to think about, but she couldn’t afford to sit back and enjoy the show this time. This was a game they were playing for keeps.</p><p>The two of them leveled off from each other, meeting one another’s gaze. Spell Card battles were a simple, elegant way to settle conflicts, which meant that both sides had to agree to a set of rules for the duel. Fortunately, the two of them had done this enough times; it only took a mutual gaze for them to convey the thought: ‘We’ll be doing the usual, as always’.</p><p>‘The usual’, in this case, followed typical Spell Card rules and would function as a quick but decisive fight. As always, one side would take the role of the ‘aggressor’ (Marisa), and the other would take the role of a ‘defender’ (Patchouli). The fight would be decided with two ‘techniques/lives’ each, where the aggressor had to dodge their opponent or be crushed. Once it was over, it was over. </p><p>Patchouli opened the book she had with her, and it steadily floated free from her hands. The pages flipped rapidly, as if they were being turned by a multitude of organized, unseen hands. Marisa could feel a shift in the atmosphere, as magical energy began to fill the air. A sigil--a protective field of magic--formed in front of Patchouli.</p><p>“Let’s begin. I’m confident my anemia won’t hinder my performance this time.”</p><p>Marisa merely grinned, the air also beginning to shift around her. </p><p>“Oh, threaten me with a good time!”</p><p>The next moment, color danced around Marisa. The color took form, solidified, and became a set of vibrant stars. With a gesture, the stars shot across the open field and right into her opponent’s barrier with a chorus of ‘pops’ and ‘bangs’. A grin plastered across her face, Marisa kept the flow of starlight going as she awaited the counterattack. </p><p>The librarian glanced indifferently at the attack, before snapping her fingers. The magical energy around her condensed, forming a set of orbs around her. Marisa’s eyes widened, but not in shock or fear. She veered to the right, and as she expected, a beam of light zipped right past her, followed by another. She didn’t need to look to know they’d started following her, and that several other beams had also started humming about in an organized fashion.</p><p>
  <em> Yup, it’s definitely... </em>
</p><p>Marisa wondered if Patchouli was just warming up. It was slightly different (and a little more three-dimensional), but she recognized the pattern. She already knew that the beams following her were meant to push her into another set that would close in from the opposite side. It was a trick meant to make someone believe they were flying into an unavoidable trap—one that would hopefully trick them into wasting a bomb. But anyone who understood Spell Card rules knew that making an undodgeable attack was seriously banned. Seriously. It was enough grounds to get a serious Reimu on you, and nobody wanted that. </p><p>Out of the corner of her eye, she saw exactly that buzzing in from another angle. Another pair of beams, following that exact intent. Instead of reflexively blasting her way out, she waited. Waited, as they closed in. <em> One, two—  </em></p><p>Right on cue, the initial rays of light fizzled out right before making contact, and Marisa shifted into the empty space as the other set grazed right past her. </p><p>
  <em> Knew it. If that’s the same, then… </em>
</p><p>She glanced back to Patchouli, and saw more or less what she expected. The mage elevated herself, waving one hand while turning a page in her grimoire with the other. Then, several explosive flashes of red light—a storm of bullets burst from all around her, a huge number of them headed right for Marisa. The witch merely grinned, undaunted by the display, before diving low and continuing to fire her own storm of prismic stars. </p><p>The pattern would loop and mix, a combined set of constricting beams and spreading bullets methodically placed. If she were a total greenhorn, Marisa might have gotten nailed by a few of them. But this wasn’t her first game; she’d been at this far too long to get snagged by something so basic. Not a single one touched her, and none of them would. </p><p>“There!” </p><p>With a casual flick of her wrist, one final star shot across the open air and slammed into Patchouli’s barrier. At this last shot, the wall seemed to give, at last breaking down. For her part, Patchouli didn’t seem to react, as though the result was hardly a surprise. It definitely made Marisa wonder if she was being played around with. </p><p>“As expected. Then… hm?”</p><p>For some reason, Patchouli stopped. Her gaze left Marisa, shifting back down to ground-level. Confused, Marisa followed her eyes--</p><p>Back at the small table, their former meeting ground had turned into a spectator’s stand. Not only Reimu and Luka, but it looked like Remilia had joined in on the fun too. She could see them watching the fight, with Sakuya approaching them with a tray of drinks. </p><p>Remilia waved her hand slightly. “Ah, don’t mind us. Go on, pretend we aren’t even here.”</p><p>The both of them floated idly for a few moments, staring back at them awkwardly. She could even see Luka hesitantly taking a cup of tea and sipping at it, her eyes glancing up at them curiously. </p><p>Funnily enough, Patchouli was the one who finally got them back on track. “... anyways.” </p><p>As though she were removing a bookmark, Patchouli turned to a page in her tome and lifted something from it. It was difficult to make out details from so far away, but Marisa could already guess: a small card framed in gold with a certain image on it. A physical manifestation of an attack with meaning, of a beautiful technique fashioned from one’s self— </p><p>A Spell Card. </p><p>“Fire Sign「High Level Agni Shine」!”</p><p>
  <em> … Huh? </em>
</p><p>Suddenly, the temperature of the room increased. A lot. Patchouli’s grimoire ignited, burning brightly yet never singeing the mage. With a gesture, a bright, somewhat blinding inferno kicked up around her. It swirled around wildly, creating a hot whirlwind that made Marisa’s throat feel dry.</p><p>But, rather than feel intimidated, Marisa looked vaguely insulted. </p><p>“Hey. You’re not seriously takin’ me lightly, are ya?”</p><p>She knew this Spell Card already. Not this specific version, but she could tell this was a similar type. A little spiced up, maybe, but not dramatically different.</p><p>Patchouli’s expression remained dispassionate. “Consider it research. Optimization.” </p><p>“So, basically yes.” For once, Marisa was the one scowling.</p><p>She didn’t get a response. Patchouli waved her hand again, and the great tornado of fire expanded outward. Like a spreading wildfire, it overtook the space between them. </p><p>But. Again, she knew this Spell Card. Smacking ‘high-level’ onto the front of it didn’t change its core design. Even if it was stronger, that didn’t mean it didn’t share the same flaws as its original. Looking at it, she could see the vortex of flames still had a slight wobble to it as it spread outward. That tiny motion, as subtle as it was, formed small gaps in the fire. Even if the number of bullets was bigger, all that meant was that it was a slightly tighter squeeze. It wasn’t any more difficult at all. </p><p>
  <em> Actually, since I’ve been at this sorta thing for longer, it might be even easier… </em>
</p><p>Like a leaf in a fiery hurricane, Marisa flitted about, returning fire. Her hail of stars cut through the blaze and went straight for Patchouli. Not an ember landed on her, but every shot she fired hit its mark. </p><p>It was just a matter of time. Dodging, firing, dodging, firing, until…</p><p><b>Krk!</b> A sound like glass cracking, then shattering. The first Spell Card was broken.</p><p>“Hah! Perfect run, too.” Marisa grinned smugly, leaning back onto her broom. “You gonna start takin’ me seriously?”</p><p>Patchouli, however, ignored her. With a flick of her wrist, she summoned a quill from nowhere and began to silently scribble in her tome. Marisa could vaguely hear her muttering something to herself. </p><p>“...Uh?” Marisa’s smug smirk melted. “Patchy? We’re still fighting?” </p><p>“Yes, yes, I’m aware.” </p><p>Suddenly, a light came from Patchouli’s tome. Marisa recognized that bright flash, and it was never good. The mage reached into it, and it took a physical form. Solidifying, shrinking down, until… </p><p>“Mm…” Another Spell Card formed, pinched between Patchouli’s index finger and thumb. “That should do it for the necessary improvements.”</p><p>Oh great. She’d just thought up a new Spell Card on the spot. </p><p>The air shifted once more, this time growing hot even before any fires had started. There was a sound like paper flapping in the wind, and an assortment of tomes flew up from the library below. They surrounded Patchouli, their pages turning rapidly like the world’s most frantic invisible speedreaders were all trying to set a new record. The heat intensified, and Marisa could feel herself beginning to sweat. </p><p>Holding the card above her head, Patchouli’s passive expression finally shifted into a focused glare.</p><p>“Fire Sign!「Agni Radiance」!”</p><p>Again. The temperature shot up again, and every book surrounding Patchouli lit on fire. The fire coming from them spread, spiraling outward in much the same way as it had before. It was even hotter than before, and the increased number of books brought out an even wider spread of fire. </p><p>—The name was still the same. The genre was the same. Even the initial pattern was the same. </p><p>It was just bigger.</p><p>That’s all it was. Just bigger.</p><p>“Seriously?” </p><p>Yeah, even the wobble was the same. Small, easily-seen gaps in the pattern formed. This was just the same attack, but bigger. What the hell? Marisa was convinced she was being pranked at this point. </p><p>
  <em> Well, joke’s on her! </em>
</p><p>Taking her wounded pride, Marisa zipped ahead much more aggressively. She wouldn’t let this stand, not without some serious punishment. This was the last Spell Card she needed to break, and she’d make sure she broke it with style. The witch adjusted herself so that she was standing on her broom, steering it with just her feet. Weaving, she rode straight through the gap in the fire. Her plan was to reach into her hat with one of her now freed hands, pull out her trump card, and fire it as close as she could for maximum flair.</p><p>It should’ve been a straightforward path. Just a few more turns. But as she closed in, Patchouli didn’t seem to brace herself. Actually, was that a smirk on her face? Why was she— </p><p>“—?!”</p><p>Jerking to the side, Marisa felt the heat from a giant fireball graze right past her. </p><p>“Whoa, whoa—!!”</p><p>She’d made a horrible mistake. </p><p>The same fireball that shot past her wasn’t alone. No, far from it. They came in an outpour, each one larger than Marisa herself. They left hardly any room to maneuver. Marisa could only dart around in a mad attempt to avoid getting hit.</p><p>But, she’d committed too hard to her aggressive push. It was hard to rapidly move around in her standing position. And so, in her effort to avoid getting hit by the new projectiles— </p><p>She’d overlooked the original pattern of flames, and realized too late she’d flown directly into its path. </p><p>“Oh sh—!”</p><p>To anyone else, it would have looked like a certain death. Being swallowed whole by a fiery inferno and burnt to a crisp; a horrible, sudden end. </p><p>
  <b>Pichuun~</b>
</p><p>A flash of light and distinct sound rang out as soon as the wall of fire made contact with her. The flames dispersed, fading out instantly. Left behind, a totally unscathed Marisa who looked more annoyed than fatally wounded. </p><p>“Aaaagh…!!” Well, she was wounded in another way. “I seriously fell for that?! Gah!” </p><p>Patchouli couldn’t hide her satisfied smile. “You were the one who assumed I wasn’t taking this seriously.” </p><p>
  <em> Touché, but still! It’s playing dirty when you take advantage of your opponent’s ignorance! </em>
</p><p>With renewed fire in her eyes, Marisa pulled down on her hat and readjusted her seated position. No more showing off, she’d do this properly. She resumed firing, her stars punching through the wall of fire once again. This time, instead of rushing through, she stopped to observe the pattern from afar. The frustration of getting hit hadn’t blinded her, but instead clarified her thoughts. </p><p>To break it down… It was still, fundamentally, a big wall of fire. A vortex Spell Card that spun outward with tiny openings in its pattern. The major difference was that a new obstacle had been added into the mix: the giant fireballs. Their size wasn’t an issue on its own, but they were being fired into the openings from before. That meant that the one safe spot in the card she was used to exploiting was basically turned into a death trap. No, even worse—the sheer number meant getting close at all was basically asking to get blown up. </p><p>Getting close… </p><p>
  <em> Wait a sec… </em>
</p><p>The room heated up again, and another wave of fire shot out. Marisa, in a bit of an uncharacteristic move, fell back. From the slightly confused look on Patchouli’s face, she could tell she didn’t immediately get where Marisa was going with this strategy. Backing up to the very edge of the play area could be an easy way for one to get cornered, especially in this kind of game.</p><p>But, Marisa had realized the opposite. </p><p>Before, the reason she wasn’t able to dodge was because she’d bolted in without thinking. She got too close. So, when she tried to fly up and through the openings from before, she hadn’t had time to adapt to the fireballs. Those fireballs covered up a good chunk of the openings when they passed through, but they moved at a different speed than the vortex itself. In other words, it only looked undodgeable when Marisa had tried to zip through right when both types of projectiles were overlapping. </p><p>If she waited, and carefully avoided the fireballs as they shot by first…</p><p>“Aha!!”</p><p>Then the obstacle preventing her from cutting through would pass by harmlessly, and the openings would remain just the same. </p><p>Patchouli seemed to have noticed it too, her eyes widening. With a wave of her hand, she fired yet again, but there was no turning this back around. Marisa had figured the pattern out, and her continued fire was beginning to wear down Patchouli’s barrier. </p><p>
  <em> Of course, I could totally end this by just shootin’ the regular stuff. But what fun would that be? </em>
</p><p>No, no… Again, this wasn’t ending without some serious punishment. Some ‘tough love’, as they might say. </p><p>Right as she dodged the last of the fiery volley, Marisa’s shots and movement stopped short. Casually reaching atop her head, she yanked her hat off of her head and dug a hand into it. She pulled her hand out like a magician drawing out a rabbit, but she wasn’t pulling out a rabbit. It was a tiny, octagonal block of wood, paired with a card not unlike the ones Patchouli had been using. </p><p>“...!”</p><p>Patchouli’s body tensed. She was more than familiar with that sight. In a desperate move, she let out one final round of fire. It tore through the open air, the vortex mere moments from hitting Marisa— </p><p>“Ooh, almost, too!”</p><p>But right before it made contact. A surge of magical power suddenly filled the air, all from the device in her hands. The heat from it overshadowed even the fire coming right at her, and the building light was enough to blind even the spectators below. Building, growing, the overwhelming magical energy readied, aimed— </p><p>“Love Sign☆ 「Master Spark」!!!”</p><p>In the next instant. An unrivaled prismic blast shot forth. Calling the sound it made a ‘light hum’ would’ve been like comparing a roaring lion to a meowing kitten. And roar it did, tearing through the wall of flames in front of Marisa and leaving nothing behind. </p><p>Patchouli hardly had a moment to react. With only a short, cut-off sound (“M-Muky—?!”) she was engulfed completely. The surge of firepower shredded through her barrier, overwhelmingly overpowering her in every aspect; a total overkill. The books surrounding her shot off in every direction, like a person losing their shoes from being hit by a car. The wave of light pushed her back and up, further into the air, building and building until…</p><p><b>B-B-BANG! </b>A sound and sight like a firework exploding, and with it…</p><p>A resounding crash, like a glass screen shattering; the breaking of her opponent’s final Spell Card. </p><p>~Winner: Marisa Kirisame~</p><p>“Aaahh…” She wiped her forehead, letting out a sigh of relief. “That never stops feelin’ good.”</p><p>It was kind of a shame she had to hold back so she didn’t destroy the library, but she’d take what she could get. It wasn’t every day she could let a Spark loose like that. Well, actually she could, but it wasn’t every day she could hit somebody with it. </p><p>
  <span class="small">“KWAUGH?!” “Huh?!” “Oh my…”</span>
</p><p>… Hm? Did she hear something? Ah, whatever, it probably wasn’t important.</p><p>Looking up to where Patchouli’d been sent, she could see her figure steadily descending. </p><p>… Actually, no, that was kind of like falling. </p><p>… She was going to stabilize at some point, right? </p><p>… … … Uh— </p><p>
  <b>CRASH!</b>
</p><p>Oof. Marisa winced as she watched the fragile librarian crash into a conveniently placed pile of paperback books. She shuddered to imagine if she’d face-planted on a stack of hardcovers…</p><p>Letting herself descend, Marisa idly floated next to the paper mountain. It looked like Patchouli was completely buried under there. “You alive down there, Patchy?” No response. “Cough if you’re dead.”</p><p>She heard a faint hack from underneath the mound.</p><p>“Whoops, guess the library’s mine now.”</p><p>A strong blast of wind immediately burst out from the pile, dispersing the books every which way (and almost knocking off Marisa’s hat—rude!). That same wind also caught the books in the same moment, before beginning to steadily arrange them in small, orderly stacks. Now freed, Patchouli rose back to her feet, dusting herself off slightly.</p><p>“I don’t recall signing a will.” Her scowl hadn’t softened a bit. She did raise an eyebrow, though. “Or including your name anywhere on it.”</p><p>“Aw, that’s cold. Aren’t I your favorite visitor?”</p><p>Patchouli gave her a humorless glare. Marisa pouted melodramatically.</p><p>“Regardless…” Sighing, Patchouli seemed to finally release some of that tension she’d had since they first arrived. “I suppose I’ll need to hold up my end of the bargain.”</p><p>Just like that. There was no sign that either of them had been in any kind of intense duel to the death, or fight to the finish. Neither showed any kind of serious injury at the end of the fight, nor any grudge over its conclusion. It was as though the entire thing had been a simple game, with the results being as inconsequential as any other gamble. </p><p>It was, of course, and it made perfect sense to both of them. That was the way things worked in Gensokyo; how the ever fickle conflicts between youkai and humans were resolved. </p><p>That aside, Marisa was feeling pretty proud of herself. Her solution to the whole language barrier problem had panned out after all! It was time for her to fly back up to the balcony and get things set up. </p><p>But, what she saw there…</p><p>“Ah, you’re back.”</p><p>Reimu flatly greeted them, kneeling next to an unconscious Luka and checking her for injuries. The outsider was laid out on the floor, her chair knocked over. A book, recognizable as one of the tomes that had flown from Patchouli’s side after Marisa’s earlier Spark, could be seen lying next to her head.</p><p>Marisa suddenly remembered the weird sound from before.</p><p>“... Crap.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Phew, that was a long one, huh? Okay, onto some development details...</p><p>This chapter was tough, but it was also a lot of fun to make. The initial draft was spread across multiple chapters, and the sequence of events was, well, totally different. To sort of explain why I took so long, the initial draft of this specific chapter featured a swap to Luka’s POV, and would have had Marisa taking her to the SDM by herself. There was a lot going on, she was going to get chased by Sakuya, all sorts of various hijinks. It was funny, to an extent, but…</p><p>It just… wasn’t really doing much. A lot was happening, but also nothing was. I was taking the time to have these big sequences of events just to display minor plot elements. It just wasn’t cutting it, and it felt like it was dragging the whole flow of things down. There were also minor personal issues I had with it, as it felt vaguely out-of-character for Reimu to just let Marisa drag this outsider into a dangerous place by herself. Not to mention the same applied to Marisa too. The both of them are pretty nonchalant with their jobs, but to be that grossly irresponsible? No way. I felt like I was pushing too hard on something bad happening just to be funny and ignoring the characterization it was giving two of my leads. </p><p>So, I rewrote the outline to what we have now, and I feel a lot better for it. Reimu and Marisa are still fundamentally good people, and while they aren’t outright chasing problems down, neither of them are the type to outright ignore someone in a bind if they’re right in front of them. Marisa, because she’s nicer than she lets on. Reimu, because she’s more dutiful than her behavior implies. That’s what I think, anyways.</p><p>Anyways...</p><p>The fight between Marisa and Patchouli was really fun to think up. I wanted this chapter to feature a Spell Card battle—and I’m not talking like, a surface-level fight that goes on for a few paragraphs, but a proper DUEL. The Spell Card system is something that I feel gets underrepresented in Touhou stories a lot, and it’s kind of a shame, because I think it’s a great concept. It allows for fights that follow strict rules that characters have to follow, meaning that characters generally can’t just brute force their way through problems. Of course, I’m still technically fudging the rules on them a bit, but we’ll get to that eventually. I wanted this to be a nice ‘show’ of the Spell Card system so that once I get to the eventual ‘tell’ later (since I feel like that might be necessary for this kind of story), it’s not as jarring. </p><p>… Is that a spoiler? It might be. Eh, whatever. </p><p>Anyways, what else…? Marisa was really fun to write from the perspective of. I feel like a lot of people characterize her as being kind of stupid and cool, and she IS to an extent, but not really. I like to think Marisa’s way more intelligent than she lets on—she’s the type who does nonchalantly something crazy and flashy, but you can always guess that prior to that she spent a good couple weeks practicing and theorycrafting just so she could pull it off. And she’d really prefer that nobody knows that. Basically, she pretends to be cool, but is actually a gigantic dork. I hope I portrayed that decently (and that I continue to do so). </p><p>Okay! I think that’s just about everything? We’ve seen the POV of Reimu and Marisa, so who might we jump into the perspective of next time…? I think most of you can guess by now, but I’ll leave it unsaid for now. </p><p>It’s been a pretty chaotic few months, especially if you live in the United States like me. For those of you who are also living here, I hope your days are well and that you’re taking care! And if you don't live here, I still hope the same!! See you next chapter!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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